Ensevahttps://www.enseva.com
By Design.Mon, 12 Mar 2018 20:11:28 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.13Enseva Azure Cloud and Meltdownhttps://www.enseva.com/?p=2612
Sun, 07 Jan 2018 19:05:19 +0000https://www.enseva.com/?p=2612Meltdown is a hardware vulnerability affecting Intel x86 microprocessors and some ARM-based microprocessors. It allows a rogue process to read any kernel memory, even when it is not authorized to do so. You may read more about the issue here: https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2018/01/reading-privileged-memory-with-side.html

Enseva’s Azure infrastructure has already been updated to address this vulnerability. Enseva’s architecture allows for customer instances (including compute, memory and storage) to be live migrated between physical infrastructure without impacting service availability. This capability was leveraged to patch and update our Azure environment with limited impact to customer systems.

Due to some of the changes in operating systems required to mitigate Meltdown, negative performance impacts may be observed by some clients. Specifically services and activities that are heavily tied to kernel functions. To help keep this impact to a minimum, Enseva has deployed additional compute resources and distributed client load among a larger number of servers until chip manufacturers and operating system developers have an opportunity to address the performance impacts. It is our expectation that clients should only see a minimal performance impact.

The Enseva Azure updates address a vulnerability at the hypervisor level and does not require an update to your Windows or Linux virtual machine instances. However, as always, you should continue to apply security best practices throughout your environment.

]]>Enseva to attend BTC Conference – Oct. 17https://www.enseva.com/?p=2585
Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:47:31 +0000https://www.enseva.com/?p=2585Enseva is proud to participate as an exhibitor at the BTC (Business Technology Conference) in Coralville on Tuesday, October 17th (8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) Sponsored by one of our proud partners, CEC (Communications Engineering Company).
]]>5 Tips for choosing your datacenter wiselyhttps://www.enseva.com/?p=2530
Tue, 30 May 2017 21:07:02 +0000https://www.enseva.com/?p=2530All datacenters are not the same and each one brings something unique to the table. Each datacenter must be able to stand out from its competitors, and they usually do so based on their location, specialty ecosystems and their ability to serve their customers’ immediate needs. In most cases, customers are forced to either choose from a datacenter with a good carrier list or the reliability and security they need. But, what if you could have both?

Choosing a carrier-neutral datacenter or colocation provider is an important business decision. And when it comes to housing your mission-critical infrastructure within someone else’s facility you should know that all datacenters are not created equal. A truly carrier-neutral datacenter is one that is independent of the companies collocating in the datacenter and isn’t serving the entire infrastructure. Customers are free to contract directly with the transit providers of their choice, which is the right choice for any business.

Many carrier-neutral facilities provide a great blend of providers as part of their standard transport offerings. When you collocate into such a facility, you will have access to the best blend of routes possible because even if you have a close relationship with your current carrier, things happen. Most likely, a carrier-neutral datacenter will provide you with options in case your current relationship doesn’t work.

Here are five reasons to choose a carrier-neutral datacenter over a carrier specific datacenter:

1. RELIABILITY
Reliability is very important when choosing a datacenter or colocation provider. Power, cooling, connectivity, and security are all crucial elements in reliable datacenter infrastructure and in a carrier-neutral facility. Reliability is measured in uptime in the world of datacenters and a reliable provider should perform at least 99.999% uptime. Don’t settle for inferior connectivity in order to get the other components right.

2. REDUNDANCY
Datacenters that are dedicated to one carrier have limited options when a problem occurs with the network. Various carrier options offer multiple ways to incorporate a redundant vendor network design. IT best practices typically require that at least two carriers be used to connect crucial systems to the Internet, so if one fails, the other carrier will continue to function and your mission critical systems will stay connected. Your choices for alternative carriers in a carrier specific facility may be severely limited.

3. FLEXIBILITY AND EXPANSION CAPABILITY (SCALABILITY)
You want your provider to be able to meet your needs now and for several years to come. Every carrier’s network is different and you should place your mission-critical systems in a facility where all carriers are available to you. This means you can take advantage of the specialized routing and feature sets offered by each of the competing carriers at any time. You should also find out the availability of additional space, power and connectivity. Choose a provider that can scale with your needs over time.

4. COST OF CONNECTIVITY
Competition drives down prices and the more options (carrier providers) you have to choose from, the better. You should always ask how many options are available to you should you choose a carrier-neutral facility. If you choose a carrier-specific facility, you will be locked into that carrier’s product offerings for bandwidth for as long as you remain in the facility. Since moving can be difficult and costly, this means you will probably pay more for bandwidth in a carrier specific facility over time.

5. DEPLOYMENT EFFICIENCY & PORTABILITY
Consider how fast you need your infrastructure up and running? Most businesses want their new space set up as quickly and efficiently as possible. Once you make a significant investment in time and money moving your business’s web servers to a datacenter, you probably will not want to make the move again. However, we all know things happen in relationships, so no matter how much you may like them today, problems with your carrier provider could force you to make a change sooner. In a carrier-neutral facility, you can make a carrier change when needed because you are not locked into a relationship with only one carrier.

Want to learn more? Enseva helps companies accelerate business performance by connecting them to their customers and partners inside Iowa’s most networked datacenter. Now businesses can choose from a broad range of network services from over 12 carrier providers (including blended performance connections) with connections to backbone service providers in major network peering locations, making Enseva the preferred colocation center for customers all across the Midwest.

With increased reliability, redundancy, flexibility and deployment efficiencies, outsourcing data storage needs to be carrier-neutral is something all companies should consider. There are many benefits to using a carrier-neutral datacenter and if you would like to learn more about Enseva, please contact us at 888-851-6281.

Disasters at work happen all the time, ranging from data accidentally deleted to a hard drive that fails or a server that isn’t figured properly. Most of these disasters are more of a hindrance and finding a workaround can sometimes be an acceptable solution. But if a real disaster happens, are you prepared?

A major loss such as a fire, break-in, storm or flooding can be detrimental to your business. Planning ahead is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your business can recover quickly. Here are a few tips to help you minimize the effects of a disaster:

Focus on prevention, be prepared

Assess your risks and potential business impacts to determine ways you can minimize the possibility of disasters in advance.

Conduct regular audits and system checks; have pre-approved expenses.

Appoint a disaster recovery team

Create a team of people who know what to do in an emergency and be sure to include someone from all sectors of your business.

Take steps to protect your company’s hardware and software in advance to minimize damage and data loss. Always have spare hardware onsite.

Hardware protection measures include surge protectors, battery backups, duplicate servers in separate locations such as a cloud or datacenter.

Software protection includes regular backups of software and data, virus protection, firewalls and servers. Data backups should be stored in a safe, offsite location.

Protect vital records

Consolidate important records and assets such as employee records, contracts, financial and insurance records, permits, and other documents.

Consider keeping these records offsite or storing them where they are safe and accessible.

Establish an emergency communications plan

Consider all the functions your business may need to perform in an emergency situation and the communications systems you will need to support them.

Develop a plan that includes how you will communicate with leadership, employees and their families, outside safety and emergency organizations, customers neighboring businesses and, if necessary, the media.

Talk to your communications vendors in advance about emergency response capabilities and establish a plan for prioritizing and restoring communications systems.

Use the media to your advantage

Appoint a spokesperson to speak on behalf of the company during times of crisis.

Communicate to your customers and the public as soon as you are able to do so, as many people might assume you are out of business.

Create a crisis communications plan in advance to help inform the public. A good plan can help diffuse any misperceptions about your business and maintain a positive public image.

Establish recovery procedures in advance

Create a recovery plan with goals and objectives for short- and long-term recovery.

Ensure you have employee support in place, including medical, physical and financial support to keep your employees physically and mentally healthy and able to return to work.

Know in advance who in your community can help during an emergency such as emergency services and neighboring businesses. Include them in your overall emergency plans and also discuss ways your business could help with recovery.

Testing and maintenance of the plan

Once the plan has been developed, ensure the accuracy and validity of the recovery procedures.

Discover business conditions that could require changes periodically.

Update your plan during changes within your company and distribute accordingly.

It’s true that disasters don’t happen often. However, when “the big one” hits, it’s better to be prepared than not. Make disaster recovery planning a crucial component of your organization’s strategic plan. For those who may need assistance, Enseva is there to help. Don’t wait until disaster strikes.

For more information or to learn more about disaster recovery options for your organization, call us at 319-450-0550 or visit Enseva.com.

]]>Enseva’s CEO Doug Sevey was featured recently by HEDCOhttps://www.enseva.com/?p=2504
Wed, 05 Apr 2017 18:46:25 +0000https://www.enseva.com/?p=2504
Recently Doug Sevey was interviewed by HEDCO (Hiawatha Economic Development Corporation) about why it made sense for Enseva to locate in Hiawatha. Click here to hear his story about why the Enseva Data Center makes good sense for any business or enterprise looking for off-site backup and storage solutions. Special thanks to Metro Studios for producing such a wonderful video. Click here to watch the video.
]]>Carrier Neutral Colocation Data Center: What does it mean?https://www.enseva.com/?p=2490
Fri, 31 Mar 2017 15:49:48 +0000https://www.enseva.com/?p=2490Imagine that you are craving for a strong cup of coffee to kick start your day. You drive into a nearby Starbucks where you are bombarded with tons of options to choose from. You see an option to add an extra shot of espresso to your coffee which is exactly what you need. You place your order and walk out a happy customer! Choices can leave you feeling empowered, provided you understand your needs.

In the data center world, a carrier neutral colocation facility is like a digital fortress of sorts, providing diverse service options for business owners. Now, what does this really mean? Let’s break it down.

Data Centers: The bits and bytes

There is no doubt that we live in a digitally connected world where information is exchanged in the form of bits and bytes of data. From the pictures we post on Facebook, to our financial transactions, all online content constitutes data. Microsoft estimates that by the year 2020, nearly four billion people will be online, and fifty billion devices connected to the internet. Can you imagine the sheer amount of digital content this would create? To give you an estimate; as per a report published by the International Data Corporation, the amount of data generated globally was around 4.4 zettabytes (1 trillion gigabytes) in 2014, and projected to hit 44 zettabytes by 2020. Now, all of this data has to go somewhere so that it can be pulled out for future reference. Where does it go? Data Centers.

A Carrier Neutral Colocation Gateway

Social networking services, business enterprises, government organizations, educational centers, all require a data center in order to maintain their online infrastructure. In a nut shell, data centers are physical locations with sophisticated servers and networks that require significant investment for maintenance in terms of power, cooling and broadband connectivity. Data centers can either exclusively cater to the IT infrastructure of a company or they can rent out space in their facility to allow various companies to house their servers. The latter is called a colocation center (colo).

Connectivity i.e., the network bandwidth plays a vital role in the effective performance of a data center. The facility can opt to align itself with a specific telecommunication carrier or open its doors to various carriers so that businesses have the flexibility to choose the ones which suit their requirements, in this case they are known as carrier neutral centers. In the current scenario, where businesses require substantial online presence, a carrier neutral colocation facility offers them freedom to pick and choose services, seems like an ideal solution to meet their current and future needs.

The Benefits

Let’s look at how businesses benefit by partnering with a colocation carrier neutral data center:

Business Flexibility

What would you choose; to be locked-in a contract with a single carrier, or have the option to pick carriers that are a perfect match for your business needs? As businesses grow, the need for faster connectivity becomes critical. Having such diversity gives you a free rein, and allows your business to expand.

Economic Edge

The financial investment required to build your own data center is far greater than leasing a space at a colocation facility, which already has robust infrastructure with shared technology and security costs. In addition, a carrier neutral marketplace gives you an opportunity to compare various price and performance options so that you can make an informed decision.

Redundancy

Having your business run round the clock without technical glitches establishes continuity and maximizes profit. The freedom to connect with multiple carriers builds redundancy and ensures that there is no downtime in the event of any connectivity failure with a particular carrier.

Network Performance-Latency

The need for higher speed or lower latency becomes all the more crucial for businesses which involve financial transactions, like trading or the stock exchange where data needs to be transferred with great speed. A carrier neutral colocation center provides low latency, plus high bandwidth connectivity to ensure reliable transmission of data to its final destination.

Interconnection

A colocation facility also allows for connections between various networks within the data center, which fosters a collaborative businesses environment and speeds up information delivery.

Ultimately, a carrier neutral colocation center can be beneficial not only to business enterprises, but also to service providers. The presence of various businesses would give them an opportunity to broaden their portfolio as well.

Start the process by simply visiting http://speedtest.net. If you are in the vicinity of Cedar Rapids or Hiawatha Iowa, your browser may automagically select Enseva as your primary testing destination. If not, you can click the “change server” button and select Enseva (Hiawatha, IA) from the options list if it’s displayed, or you can simply type “Enseva” in the search field to quickly find our server.

Currently Enseva is donating 1 Gigabit (1,000 Megabits) of bandwidth to allowing the internet community to test their home/business speeds. Additional capacity will be made available in the future should testing demands require it.

]]>Data Center security – Don’t overlook physical securityhttps://www.enseva.com/?p=2476
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 21:45:07 +0000https://www.enseva.com/?p=2476Today, when it comes to data security much of the focus is placed on the web, including threat management, intrusion prevention and hacking. However, often overlooked is the physical security, which is just as important, especially for the top-rated data centers.

Data Centers like Enseva focus just as much on physical security as they do on protecting companies from online threats. With the SSAE 16 certification, companies like Enseva meet set standards in complying with set Trust Service Principles, which includes security, availability, processing integrity and privacy.

“A data center must maintain security from all facets,” said Chris Sevey, Enseva CEO. “We take cyber security seriously. But, we also take physical security just as seriously as we work to protect companies by taking extra precautions in planning data center location, direction, landscaping, staff security and so much more.”

Data centers take some of the following measures in assuring physical security is established and maintained:

Building location – Strategically choosing a data center’s location says a lot about security. Location assures the facility is protected from man-made and natural disasters. High-risk locations might include being near airports or power plants. A data center location is chosen to avoid it being compromised by any kind of outside influence or disaster.

Surveillance – A properly-secured data center has state-of-the-art surveillance. Cameras and other surveillance equipment is installed throughout the entire building and outside the building, giving professionals the chance to assure that all areas are functioning properly.

Limited entry points – This is all about controlled access, allowing for one main entrance and a loading dock in the rear of the building. This is cost effective, but also helpful in keeping track of anyone entering the building. Fire exits in data centers should strictly be exit only.

Strict access requirements – Technology is continually allowing data centers to be strict with those granted access. Some centers have even gone as far as requiring biometric identification, which requires hand or fingerprint authentication.

Effective redundancy – Redundancy in a data center increases security, providing another layer of equipment and storage to be in place in the case of a primary source failure. Security in regards to redundancy includes personnel, which means special measures are in place to safeguard the facility when visitors are present. Storage redundancy is the second part, allowing an additional level network security in the data center.

Building protections – Besides special attention to location and outdoor security measures, the walls and construction of the data center must meet set standards for proper physical security. Some of those measures include keeping power supplies strictly off limits. The building must also be constructed so that heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems can be set to recirculate air and not draw air from outside. The walls must also be protected, with assurances that internal walls run from slab ceiling to subflooring where the wiring is located.

Physical security continues to be overlooked, especially given today’s headlines regarding hacking, intrusion and online obstruction. However, Sevey stresses that no business should overlook this aspect of protecting company data. For a consultation to store and protect your company data, visit our website at www.enseva.com.

]]>8 Things you should know about data center colocationhttps://www.enseva.com/?p=2468
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 14:01:51 +0000https://www.enseva.com/?p=2468IT infrastructure plays a significant role in improving the performance and productivity of an organization. Businesses have realized the immense benefits and opportunities of realigning their IT operations with the overall priorities and objectives of their businesses. Therefore, since IT operations are important in supporting businesses functions, and improving the operability of business activities, it is essential to ensure that all aspects of the IT infrastructure – – data, networks, important applications, software etc — in a data center have a 100% uptime and are well secured.

However, the capital expenditures that an organization can incur in establishing its own data center can be overwhelming. In addition, the costs of maintaining and updating a large data center facility can also be taxing to the organization. This calls for the need for an organization to outsource these essential services from a remote data center to save costs.

Colocation is a managed and cloud computing data center facility that enables organizations to outsource their IT services and computing needs from a colocation provider. A colocation provider offers remote hosting of computing hardware and equipment in a large data center where several organizations rent space. Clients have the ability to exercise full control and usages of their computing hardware, while the colocation provider oversees the management and control of the data center.

Colocation providers deploy various services that guarantee smooth and efficient running of IT functions for their clients. Not only does a colocation house computing equipment, but it also offers power energy for the computing equipment, cooling of computing hardware, bandwidth and security. This means that organizations can benefit by having their normal IT operations going on as scheduled in their physical location, as core computing operations run remotely in the data center.

Before enlisting the services of a remote data center, it is important for an organization to establish the benefits and value that it is going to derive by leasing a space from a colocation provider. The most vital aspect is to ensure that the business enjoys uninterrupted services from the provider. To establish if a colocation is ideal and benefits an organization, several factors should be considered. They include:

Control

Each individual organization has its own unique computing needs that dictate the amount of control that should be exercised by its respective IT department. Choosing a reliable colocation provider, is therefore a matter of ensuring that the colocation prioritizes the computing needs of the organization. A reliable provider must be flexible, and accommodative to the individual needs of organizations to control their IT operations. Good providers usually customize their services to ensure that they meet individual requirements of their clients, such as allowing easy access for authorized staff members of an organization into the data center, accommodating individual design & installation and access to private data networking just to mention a few.

Security and Compliance

The physical security measures of your provider should be guaranteed. Deployment of technologies such as closed-circuit cameras, biometric scanner, alarm systems, card readers, video monitors and on-site security measures that prevent unauthorized access to the data center should be installed. In addition, a good provider should employ trained security personnel at the data center to complement the automated security systems in place. All these security measures should be up and working 24/7.

Apart from physical security, the provider should implement innovative security technologies for its clients’ computing hardware and equipment. The provider should prioritize the use of advanced innovative security systems such as threat detection technologies, DDoS protection, two-factor authentication protection and data network security.

Additionally, to ensure that security vulnerabilities of clients’ computing equipment are mitigated, the provider should be compliant with the regulatory standards of data centers such as the SSAE 16 service controls. For public traded companies, the colocation provider should ensure that its meets the Sarbanes- Oxley (SOX) compliance requirements and for e-commerce stores the provider should meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security (PCI DSS) standards. Also, it is important to ensure that the provider is able to meet specific compliance standards required for certain industries. For instance, businesses in the financial sector are required to meet the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) standards while those in healthcare sector should meet the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) standards for all information security requirements.

Ecosystem

The IT infrastructure involves various functions that support normal IT operations such as connectivity options, operating conditions, cooling technologies, structured cabling, load management, network redundancy, operating set points, managed hosting, life-cycle planning and failure analysis assessment just to mention a few. These services can be costly to any organization that decides to operate its own IT closet or data center.

On the other hand, a colocation data center provides several options of network provider and a cloud ecosystem of all these IT operations to its clients at an attractive cost that helps clients to make the huge saving on their computing needs.

For instance, the availability of multiple network providers in a colocation facility encourages competitive pricing by the various network vendors making it possible for a client to choose the most cost-effective vendor. In addition, increased competition attracts improved services and performance from the vendors so that they can remain on the competitive edge. In essence, a wide range of network options helps to ensure that that the bandwidth provided is efficient and allow unlimited access of computing applications and resources by the organization’s staff, customers and other stakeholders

Some reliable providers also offer carrier/network diversity and in other times, they offer access diversity that helps clients to reduce the losses or risk that would be occasioned by network failures or interruptions. Carrier diversity helps in supporting redundant network connectivity.

Redundant network connectivity, on the other hand, helps to secure a business from any network failures that may be costly. Redundant networks ensure that operations are not interrupted, or affected by any network failures, hence guaranteeing 100% uptime of all the computing needs of an organization.

The ecosystem of critical IT services provided by a colocation provider is effective in supporting all core services of the IT infrastructure. It is important for businesses to value the underlying benefits of their IT infrastructure and its impact on businesses operations: the wider the context of the IT environment and scope of the IT infrastructure, the more the need for an organization to rent the cloud services and space of a colocation.

Scalability

As organizations grow and scale up their operations, so does their computing needs. It therefore, can be tedious for an organization to quickly and securely scale up their operations to meet its business needs without a prior plan.

One huge benefit that an organization will realize by outsourcing computing services from a colocation, is the ability to scale its IT operations to suit its immediate needs without incurring expensive costs of doing so. It is important for businesses to choose a provider who can make a swift adjustment to the computing needs that an organization requires.

Financing

The cost of establishing and maintaining a data center can be too expensive for most organizations. Moreover, an increase in computing needs of an organization can complicate the equation because the organization has to upgrade its data center to meets its computing requirements.

However, when an organization decides to lease a space from a colocation provider, the capital expenditure and operating expenditure is drastically reduced and can be predetermined each month, thus enabling an organization to have extra capital resources that could be channeled into other areas of business investments. Simply, the organization benefits from additional financing from leasing services from a remote data center than when it builds its own data center.

Economies of Scale

One huge advantage that colocations provide their clients is the economies of scale. Providers are able to pool various clients who share the costs of expenses that the data center incurs, resulting to lower costs for the clients.

Economies of scale help colocation providers to invest in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, that provide clients with improved services that guarantee efficiency in the computing needs and helps organizations to save costs. Economies of scale also helps providers in reducing costs involved in providing efficient physical security services, enhanced data security, access to new and emergent technologies, reduced power usage, improved connectivity etc.

All these services help organizations to reduce operational risks and lower the costs of running their IT operations, thus allowing clients to focus on more pertinent business functions.

Expertise

Colocations concentrate majorly on providing efficient data center services to their clients, and thus they have the resources and time to invest in better technologies that can help advance the services that they have available to their clients.

Providers usually deploy services of experienced and professional staff that ensure that the core functions of the data center run uninterrupted. This ensures that clients do not have to worry about any interruptions and can run their IT operations smoothly at any time.

Providers also deploy their services 24/7/365 hence reducing the burden that clients would face if they were to maintain, service, and update their IT infrastructure frequently for continual improvement of IT functions.

Colocations ensure that they have backup power supply systems, carrier diversity & redundant network connectivity, reliable cooling technologies, layered security services and managed & cloud services that ensure non-interruption of IT operations at all times. Additionally, providers usually offer 24/7 customer service that can help clients address any emergency issues such as server reboots in good time. They also help clients in equipment racking, cabling and design of the IT environment, which also ensures that the IT infrastructure is up, and running in good time.

Providers usually employ experts in handling various function of the IT infrastructure such as a cooling experts for handling cooling technologies, a design and installation expert, and an expert in structured cabling among others. These dedicated experts are helpful in hastening the setting up of the IT environment so that a business can commence its operation with ease.

Time to Market

If an organization decides to establish its own data center, it may take several months if not years for the whole project to be completed. On the other hand, leasing the same services from a colocation provider, it can help an organization to begin its operation almost immediately with minimal stress. In addition, remote data center provider’s helps businesses to scale up their IT infrastructure anytime without the need to remodel the data center, hence promoting the improved continuity of IT operations for the organizations.

Conclusion

Organizations should be keen when making a decision about a reliable colocation provider to ensure that they make the best choice of a data center that helps them to improve their business performance. An organization should make a good choice based on their computing needs and the overall value that it will derive from the colocation.

]]>Enseva to attend Interface Conference April 6https://www.enseva.com/?p=2461
Tue, 14 Feb 2017 15:59:55 +0000https://www.enseva.com/?p=2461Join us at the Interface Conference in Des Moines April 6 to learn how Enseva can help you with your datacenter colocation, cloud and managed services needs. We’re not just any datacenter, we are Iowa’s exclusive, locally-owned Tier 4+ datacenter committed to providing the highest value and best return-on-investment.